How To Drive Sales Using Email

Are you building your email list?

This post highlight’s the importance of using email in your business; and it’s probably not what you’re used to. Be sure to read to the end…

“The money is in the list” is a catch phrase usually thrown around by internet marketing ‘gurus’ in regards to building your email list. But is it still valid? Can you make money from your list, using just email?

Yes and no – let me explain what I mean based on that response…

• Yes, you can grow your sales using email, but it’s not just email marketing as it used to be in the past. This is the era of “personalised marketing” – tailoring your email specifically to the needs of the people in your list. You can’t win by making assumptions.

• No, if you are prone to sending out random emails blasts or sales emails, without taking time to understand who your subscribers are and what they need.

Email marketing is often frowned upon by many, and they have a good reason for reacting that way. The problem with email marketing lies with the people who are more inclined to use “desperate marketing tactics” and sending out spam; sending value based content seems like a waste of time to them.

Some business owners would prefer to use social media as the only means of communication, which (in my opinion) does not project professionalism for your brand.

Social media has it’s place, and I’m not sure people would like to receive an invoice via a Facebook chat. A proper email setup with your business email can build more trust for your brand as opposed to posting certain sensitive stuff on social media.

It’s a matter of setting up your priorities and building an effective communication sequence with your audience, via email.

Segmentation

By segmenting your list, you are creating a more organised emailing process for your business.

You can create a segment for buyers and send emails only to these group of people, while the rest of the people within your database will not receive that same email.

The truth is, the language you’ll use in an email to a non buyer is completely different to the one you’ll use for a buyer.

Buyers have already spent money with you, so with this group, sending out sales emails (though not all the time) will not be quickly ignored, compared to sending out the same email to non buyers.

For non buyers, you have to keep “courting” them. It’s more like going out on a date. You get to know each other first and see how things go from there.

Some email marketing platforms can allow you to create as many segments as you want. You just have to know how to place your subscribers on the right list, in order to avoid mixing up your communication.

How do you build your email list?

You need to create or use effective funnels that will do all the work for you automatically, without the need to add people manually.

Funnel examples…

• Your website
• Your blog/articles
• Your videos
• Your groups/forums
• Your landing pages with lead magnets
• Your newsletter
• Your live event registrations
• Social media
• Your podcast
• Your webinars

Getting people from reading a piece of content or watching a video to becoming a subscriber is something every business should master.

It’s no longer easy to get people to give you their details in exchange for your free offer. You have to step up your game, and bring massive value to the table. Without trust, you’re not going to get any quality leads.

The power of personalisation in email

Have you ever opened an email, read the content and wondered how on earth the sender knew you needed that information?

The sender used what is called “marketing automation.” This is an intelligent process within an email marketing system, designed to track the behaviour of subscribers, in order to know how to tailor content that best suits their needs.

Is it 100% accurate? No it isn’t, but it’s better than what we used to have in the past.

Unlike display advertising or retargeting with pixels (which most people dislike, when they are followed all over the web), this is based on the fact that your lead has given you consent through subscription, which means he/she wants something in return (i.e. value based information).

When your email addresses the needs of your email audience, you’ll create a bond between the two parties. If that bond is broken, then you will start getting more unsubscribes.

Keep it simple… keep it personal!

How to sell via email

Selling via email is one of the most effective online marketing processes, but you have to know what you’re doing.

You can create drip feed campaigns within your email tool or create mini email courses and ask those interested to register. I’ve used this strategy for my “5 days email crash course on Facebook content marketing” (but mine was a free course).

Selling becomes easy with email when you have spent the first few days giving value. This is what makes or breaks most email marketing campaigns.

If you are not using the first few days to solidify the relationship, then transitioning to the sale will be a hard thing to accomplish.

What if no one opens and reads my emails?

If that’s the case, then there are 2 things that could be the reason here…

#1. You’ve built an unresponsive list: it’s either your targeting was wrong and you ended up bringing in the wrong people or they only came in to get the freebie.

#2. Your email subjects are turns offs: you have to spend some time to really work on your email subjects. Just because someone has subscribed to your list does not guarantee that he/she will keep reading your emails. So, your very first email to them, upon subscription is very important – introduce yourself and give them expectations.

Final thoughts…

Whether you choose to use email marketing or not, the bottom line is that it works, if you know how to use it right. There are best practices to adhere to, and when you are well setup to get going, it can be a worthwhile experience for your subscribers, yourself, and your business.

I hope you found this helpful? Leave your comment below.

To your success!